The Life You Left Behind
by Twisted09Insanity
Summary: Tifa, a rich, pictureperfect buisness woman.... Cloud, a mysterious street dweller.... And one curse that binds them together forever. [Rating will vary come future chapters.]


The Life You Left Behind

"No…. No it can't be! This just can't be happening…. No, please, no!" Nothing made sense to her just yet as taller pillars outstretched from the earth, waves of tremendous power consuming her balance within mere seconds of a strong, powerful wind whisking across her body. Fear was strongly seen within her orbs of brown just as black wings shadowed her from the moonlight. She didn't know what was happening, or why this was it happening to begin with. It just…wasn't right.

Once familiar buildings had crashed down all around, rubble piling high like the molded walls of a prison. Streets split and crumpled into sections, people frantically running from dark beams of light shooting out from the blood red sky; blood marking death onto this world.

Her feet carried her a few steps back, eyes unable to blink away the images she saw before her this very moment. Slight tremors slid through her like water and slowly a hand from the shadowed wings extended toward her.

"No!" she cried, flailing her arms, eyes tightly shut. "Tell me who you are!"

There was no reply, just a soft, gentle touch of a hand on her cheek. She found herself unmoving, the fear slowly draining from her eyes as she made the courage to look up at this mystery figure. Her voice crept to a whisper when she finally managed to find what she wanted to say, and the words met the air in a hoarse string. "Who…are you?"

"The one that changes this world," the figured finally said, slowly. It moved away from her, turning and then she gained a glimpse of his face. It was so full of sorrow, of anger, or so much emotion she couldn't quite comprehend just what he felt. Things were becoming so weird….

Even as things were falling around her, she paid no mind. She just stood there silently, watching this mysterious figure with shadowed wings gleaming with the silver moonlight. Seeing his face had happened within seconds, far too soon, she couldn't memorize the features.

Another tremor raced through the ground, making her lose her balance and fall to the ground, hard. "Damnit, why won't you give me a better answer!?" she screamed, barely able to make her voice ring through the falling glass and stone. Her demand met deaf ears, and soon everything began to worsen with each passing second as the earth she was on began to split. Without a moments hesitation, she rolled over, narrowly making it to a safe distance of the large crack in the ground.

Her breathing was so uneven, she began to feel light headed, and didn't know what to do. Her entire world was falling and it was taking her with it! Her brown eyes scanned the area quickly, though there was no escape for where she was now, on a deserted chuck of land, and slowly she was becoming more and more distant from the town she once called home, all its people slaughtered by chaos.

"This can't be happening…."

"But it is…." She turned at the sound of another voice. It sounded way too familiar to be here right now.

"What?"

"Wake up!"

Tifa jolted up in her bed, eyes blazing around the room trying to grasp what had just happened. It was her room, everything neatly organized and in its place, nothing destroyed and no shadow winged figure telling her they were going to change the world.

"What happened?" she asked, looking up at the one who had woke her up. It was one of her maids who held a concerned expression, no to mention a confused one as well.

The maid finally sighed and shook her head and let her hands pull away the covers that concealing Tifa's body. "You were dreaming…I think. You kept shouting and saying the strangest things."

"A dream?" The words didn't sound familiar to her, and took her mind a moment to register what they meant. "Right…a dream. That must have been it. After all, it was too bizarre to be real."

"Yes, yes now get up. Your father is going to have a hissy-fit if your late again, Tifa. You should have been up twenty minutes ago, but I couldn't wake you up."

The mention of work made the fear return and quickly the twenty-three year old sprung up and ran to the closet. She tugged down a white blouse and stumbled to get a black mini skirt along with necessities. "I had completely forgotten about work!" she shouted as she slipped into the skirt and zipped it up.

With a sigh, the maid walked toward the doorway and looked back. "Tifa, I'll be downstairs cleaning…. Your car keys are by the door, and I went to the bank for you, too."

"Thanks." There was absolutely no time to think about what was going on. The mere thought of what happened the last time she was late made her cringe and without another moments notice she swept down the elegant staircase of the mansion her father owned, grabbed her keys and was out the door.

The drive to the corporal building her father owned, known as Scarlet Eva, was just around the corner. It took a good twenty minutes to get there, and buy the time she got parked and inside, she had five minutes to check in with her father before she was officially late.

Tifa waved to various people while hurrying down the hallway toward the elevator. Her heels clicked against the onyx marble floors and her hair was loosely placed in a pony tail where it swayed back and forth with each step she took toward the elevator.

"You're a bit late today, Tifa," chimed an all too familiar voice. The brunette spun around and blinked, eyes landing on Reno, the devilish redhead who had been hired as a personal body guard. "Didn't think you were coming today, glad you could make it."

"Oh, yeah…." It was bad to come in late on account of the companies reputation, or so her father had put it. Embarrassing as it was, she decided to tell Reno the reason she was late, even if she wasn't on the best standing with him to begin with.

"Well," she began, stopping right outside the elevator and pressed the button, "I was having this strange dream before I woke up. I don't know what it was about, or what it meant, if anything."

Reno harvested a dull chuckle. "A dream, huh? Didn't think the devil could dream." Immediately he averted his eyes after receiving a dangerous look from Tifa. "Sorry, it was just a joke… You know that, right?"

"Yeah…whatever."

It seemed like several minutes went by before the elevator finally reached the top floor, and every moment she spent with Reno rambling on beside her, she felt ill. There wasn't anything more to be done other than give him orders, which half the time he ignored to begin with! A small chime brought her from her muffled daze, and a small smile fled across her lips.

"Hey Reno, don't you have to go to the floor below me? You probably have to check up on Rude or something." The redhead knew exactly what Tifa was trying to do and smirked.

"You really are the devil. Shooing me away like that…" He put on a fake pout and pressed another button after Tifa stepped out of the confined area, smile still in tact. "Guess you shouldn't have been so desperate to be near me, hmm?" she tease right before turning her back on him.

The real drama had yet to start, considering that the elevator ride had taken up her five minutes. Tifa was officially late, and her father so lovingly pointed it out to her the moment she walked into his office…..

"I'm sorry I'm--"

"Late?" he finished. There sat Tifa's father, his gray hair slimming down year after year. His eyes were penetrating orbs of judgment, and already she knew he wasn't happy with her. He didn't have to speak in order to make her fear him, although she knew she deserved it. After all, it was her third time this month being late.

She averted her eyes briefly, only to force them back up and peer into his. "I'm sorry, I overslept."

"Again?" She nodded. "I'm rather disappointed in you Tifa. I figured you to do better, but all I see is you slowly sinking. Pick it up, or I will be forced to fire you. Is that understood?"

With another nod, Tifa turned and walked briskly from his office and slowly marched down to her own. She was thankful that her own office was quite a ways from his, and anyone else's for that matter. It was one thing she was happy for, and possibly the only bright side to this job to begin with.

With a sigh, she closed the door behind her a slumped into her black leather chair. She remained that way for a few minutes, becoming lost in her own thoughts, again.

_I don't understand… What is with me today? First that dream, then me giving a smile to Reno. Since when did I even smile at Reno!? Argh, things are so confusing right now, its unbelievable. Speaking of that dream, what was with it anyway? "I will change the world"? What sort of line is that for some dream…. Damn, I have to stop working so late._

A knock at the door disrupted Tifa's thoughts, and there she brought her gaze to meet another pair of brown orbs. "Oh, Yuffie, come on in. Sorry I didn't return your call last night, I was here at work still."

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that," the short haired girl chimed, taking a seat and laughing. "Didn't seem like your dad was too happy about you being a few minutes late. He's such an ass sometimes…."

Tifa couldn't help but laugh. Yuffie always was proud to speak her mind, which was why she could never lie to her either.

"Yeah, true. He's an ass, alright," she murmured, tapping a pen against the edge of the desk. "So, what brings you here, anyway?" She watched as her best friend smirked and folded her arms across her chest. "Alright, spill… What's on your mind?"

The youngest of the two girls remained silent for a minute or so, simply smirking at her friend, letting anger boil in the other brunettes mind. "Okay, well for one, there's this wicked party tonight. But, you won't guess whose it is!"

"Yours?"

"No silly! Its that Vincent Valentines!" Obvious excitement had been hinted in Yuffie's tone of voice, but who could blame her? Vincent was a high dollar model and actor who had all the girls swooning over him, so who wouldn't be excited? Hell, Tifa was even excited.

Tifa quickly stood up and blinked back her surprise and a girlish squeal when her friend broke the news to her. "How did you get in?"

"Easy, he invited you and I. Apparently your father knows him, and has mentioned you on several different occasions! Isn't this great?!"

To her surprise, the brunette slumped back down in her chair. Why would her father mention her, after all he never spends time at home with her, nor does he even say that he loves her! So, why would he have the nerve to mention a daughter who he sees as a failure…unless he told Vincent that. Sudden dread entered her, and a nervous laugh escaped her ruby lips.

"Tifa?"

"Maybe going isn't such a good idea…. I mean, I have a lot of work ahead of me, and I don't want to let my father down again," she stated, swallowing hard. It was completely useless trying to lie as well….

Yuffie leaned over the desk, her mini skirt inching up as she did so. "Alright, what's up? You're a huge an of Vincent, and the one chance we get to meet him face-to-face to deny because of work? Doesn't make sense…."

As best as she could, she averted her eyes and hoped that she wouldn't have to look her in the eye and say it. "I think that my father may have mentioned bad things about me to Vincent. I mean, why else would he have a reason to even mention me to begin with, huh?"

A scoff came from her as she folded back the sleeves of her green work shirt. "Listen, Tifa…. I'm sure your father didn't mention any bad aspects. Besides, you deserve a little fun! C'mon, why not loosen up a bit, hmm?"

It had been forever since she had last gotten out, and maybe Yuffie was right, she did deserve a bit of fun. Besides, why should she miss out on a killer opportunity? There was absolutely no reason for it at all.

She made no attempt to fight anymore, not that she had put up much of a fight to begin with, and nodded. "Fine, you win. I'll go to the party with you, but you'll have to help me figure something out to wear, deal?"

With a nod of her own, Yuffie agreed and stepped out of Tifa's office just as Reno came up to the door. "Oh, Reno, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be downstairs helping Rude or something?"

The redhead quickly grabbed her hand and dragged her down the hallway, further down from Tifa's office. "Shh, she might hear us, jeez…." His comment only left her confused and slightly suspicious. "Sorry, its just…she ignores me enough already, and I don't want to make her mad, too."

"My god, what is up with you anyways?" Yuffie stated with an irritable tone. "You've been lurking around all morning waiting for Tifa to get here, purposely waited so you could share an elevator with her, why? You like her or something? Not that it wasn't obvious…."

Reno scoffed, pressing his back against the wall. "That's not why I didn't want to talk in front of Tifa's office…. The thing is, someone broke in downstairs and only Rude and I know. If Tifa finds out, she tells her old man and we're busted."

Of all the things to hear, this wasn't one of the things she expected to hear. She'd known Reno and Rude since they were little kids, and always had this annoying redhead have a major crush on Tifa. It was obvious, even if he attempted to hide it. There had never been any complications at the company, and usually when there was something wrong it was just Reno playing some stupid joke on everyone. Not this time, she could tell the moment he said not to let Tifa know.

"Alright, what exactly happened? Was anything stolen?" she inquired. Reno shook his head and sighed.

"Nothing was stolen. There were workers on that floor inspecting the artifacts for the museum, and they saw someone lurking around, but they don't know where he went." He could tell that his accomplice was about to come unglued. She hated when things came to this, and knew that major trouble would strike if the boss found out.

She leaned against the wall herself, staring at the floor for a long moment before glancing at Reno from the side. "So he's still inside the building then?" After receiving a nod, she looked down again. "We have to find him. Hopefully no one else will find out, did you tell anyone?"

"No, just Rude and I."

"Good."

Things just couldn't anymore boring for Tifa that very moment. She had completed her work for that day and was looking at the recent shipments of artifacts for the museum she worked for, and her father owned. There was going to be a busy week ahead of her where she would have to show people around the museum, and not just clean old artifacts that people send into them. However, she did find one particular items of interest, a golden necklace pendant that looked to be in fairly good shape.

It was in the floor below, and she wanted to take a better look at it, personally before tomorrow would come. She didn't know who was going to get the shipment, or why she even cared. Something drew her to it, but she didn't know why, just that she had to go down into the shipment unit and dig it out.

As she exited her office, she saw Yuffie and Reno talking in the hallway, thankful that neither of them saw her, otherwise questions would be asked. It was a wonder how she could even get her work done at all with people constantly checking up on her, none being her father.

She pressed the down button for the elevator and within moments it opened, but as soon as it closed…the lights went out. At first fear rose, but settled when the elevator continued to move down, however, the door did not open.

"No…," she whispered, continuously pressing the open button, only to find that nothing happened. She didn't know why the elevator was acting the way it was, but decided not to fret too much on it. Maybe the electricians were merely working and accidentally turned the power off? Wishful thinking….

"Can someone hear me?" she shouted, only to receive her own voice echoing at her. "Anyone? Come on… There has to be someone, damn it!" Her fingers ran through her air, trying to figure out just what was going on, and why the power had just gone out all of a sudden. It was impossible to see anything, even the emergency light hadn't kicked on yet!

She banged her hand against the metal doors, demanding that they opened before she gave up and slumped against the wall. "Damnit, why did it have to go out while I was in it? The unfortunate thing was, every other elevator was working, and all the lights were on too, except for this one….. It could be hours, maybe even days before they found her. It was something she really didn't think about, figuring it was the whole building that had gone out.

Wrong. Dead wrong.

The entire day had passed by, and no one had noticed Tifa's disappearance. Her office door was closed, so everyone assumed she was just working and didn't want to be bothered, that was…until her father knocked on the door. There was no reply, and automatically he became frustrated with his daughter once again, and flung the door open.

"Tifa, do you not have the respect to speak to your father?" he demanded angrily, only to find an empty room awaiting him. "Tifa?" Still no reply. He entered further into the room, scanning it with his faded eyes and sighed. "Where could that girl have gone now." He proceeded down the hallway toward Yuffie's room and paused before knocking. There was only one voice on the other side, and it appeared Yuffie was on the phone with a client.

"Yuffie, are you busy?"

The hyper active girl jolted and set the phone down after saying goodbye. "No sir. What can I do for you, Mr. Lockhart?" Her usual smile was set in place, even if she wasn't feeling herself after what she'd found out from Reno. She only hoped that her boss wasn't here because of that….

"I was wondering if you had seen Tifa. She isn't in her office and I figured she was over here." The question took her by surprise. Tifa rarely went out of her office without telling someone.

She shook her head and stood to her feet, about to say something but refrained from doing so. Making things worse was the last thing that she wanted to do that very moment, especially considering the fact this was her boss that she was talking to now.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen her since this morning. Maybe she went to the bathroom, or something."

"Perhaps." There was no telling what he was thinking, but Yuffie assuming he was both irritated and worried about his one and only daughter, and who could blame him?

After he left the room, Yuffie followed him out, only to head out in the opposite direction. "Reno?" she called, looking around for any sign of the redhead. He had said that he was going to be on this floor, and yet, he was no where to be found. "Just when I needed to talk to him the most…."

"Reno, where are you? C'mon, this is serious!"

"Serious, huh?"

Nearly jumping from her skin, Yuffie back handed the bodyguard and scoffed. "You idiot! What were you thinking, scaring me like that!?" Reno merely rubbed his cheek and sighed. "Sorry, anyway, what were you saying about something being serious?"

"Oh, right. I was wondering if you've seen Tifa anywhere. Her father's looking for her, but he can't find her anywhere… I'm worried that something bad might have happened.

"How long ago did her father ask where she was?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

Reno leaned against the wall, glaring at the brunette before rubbing his temples. "Jeez, Yuff…. You could have at least given her an hour or something before you started worrying. I mean, c'mon, she could just be in the bathroom, or something. Maybe she went to go get coffee?"

"Reno!" she stated quickly, keeping him from saying anything more. "Could you just look around and make sure? It's almost closing time, and we're supposed to go to this party tonight. I'm worried, so just check already!"

"Okay, okay…."

Yuffie watched him leave and drew a sigh of her own before heading back to her office. There, she pulled out her cell phone and began dialing Tifa's number, hoping that she would pick up. Someone had indeed picked up, but it wasn't her best friends voice….

"You can't get to her!" moaned a male voice. "You can never have her back! Never!"

"Who are you!?" she demanded, making an attempt to hide her sudden fear. "Answer me! Damnit, where is she!?" Maniacal laughfter lifted from the receiver and frantically Yuffie left the room.

"Reno! Reno!"

At the call of his name, the redhead turned and caught Yuffie before she stumbled, and held her steady by the shoulders. Immediate concern ran through his eyes as he saw tears well up in those cloudy brown eyes. "Whoa, hang on, what happened?"

"It's Tifa! She's in trouble, I just tried to call her and some man picked up instead!"

He knew how serious this was, and that he really had to find her now. He didn't even think of the elevators, nor did he think she was out having a coffee break anymore. The childhood friend he drew up with was in trouble, and he felt powerless to find and help her.

Muddled thoughts took over everything inside his mind, until thoughts of the person who had snuck into the building rang inside his mind. His own fear surfaced, but unlike Yuffie, he contained it and swallowed hard before attempting to speak again. "Yuffie…. Look on the other floors. That guy that had gotten in might be the one behind this, go, now!"

As a frantic search developed on her floor, Tifa had become more and more irritated by what was going on. Why hadn't the power come back on yet? Granted, it had only been about fifteen minuets, but that should have been plenty of time for them to fix everything. She felt as though her air was slowly being cut off, and her skin became clammy and uncomfortable.

"Oh, come one…." Her eyes tried to see around the elevator to see where anything useful might be. She had already tried the emergency phones, and there was no power to that either. What was also bad, was that her own cell phone wasn't in her pocket like it should have been. She could have sworn she'd carried it with her when entering the elevator, although, she may be wrong. With yet another sigh, she stood to her feet again, using the metal bars to host herself up.

"Alright, Tifa… Don't panic." On the roof of the elevator was an escape hatch, which Tifa knew of, only she wasn't tall enough to even think of reaching it. With that option out, there was little chance of her getting out by herself or contacting anyone until things were up and running, which could take days.

Nothing bad came to mind until a sudden '_thunk_' came from the ceiling. She jumped, and looked up, unable to see anything still, but she knew that someone had opened the hatch due to the feeling of cold air drifting over her. It felt good, but she didn't know who did it. A worker, maybe?

"Who's there?" she asked, squinting her eyes when a small flicker of light appeared just inches away from her face. "Hey! Watch it! You almost burned me!" she brought her hands to her face, feeling for any burn marks before extending her hand up. "If you're here to help me, take my hand and get me out of here already! Please…."

Someone indeed grabbed her hand. There was dirt and grime on their hand as far as Tifa could tell by the touch, and within seconds she was pulled up gently to the elevators roof top. It was still way to dark to see, and immediately she clung to her saviors hand, despite the filth of it. It was still warm and she didn't want them to abandon her.

"Why won't you talk?" she asked, voice quivering. They just stood there for a long moment, doing nothing until the lighter flicked again and the flame once again appeared. With the flame so dim, she couldn't see much of his features, but saw that he had blonde hair…and icy blue eyes.

Her cheeks became a bright pink, and for once in this entire situation, she was glad it was dark…. Why was she blushing to begin with? It wasn't as though she knew this person to begin with!

A moment of surprise over took her when she felt his arm encircle her waist and lifted her up. Quickly she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him for dear life knowing what he was about to do. The rubber cables holding the elevator up squeaked and pulled as they were climbed on, and it seemed like forever before they reached a small ledge where a door was. He hosted Tifa up, letting her catch her balance before he jumped up beside her.

"Thank you," she murmured softly, averting her eyes to where she saw a small stream of light. "Just who are?"

"I can't tell you that." His voice was soft, distant…a holder of emotion and burden. It was mysteriously deep and brought Tifa to blush again as she clung to the edge.

"But why?" she received no answer, but instead heard another '_thunk_' which indicated that he'd jumped back down onto the hatch. "Hey! Where are you going!?" By then…he was already gone.

Without her savior, she had no other choice but to fend for herself again and managed to feel around the ledge. There, was a button, its shape round and Tifa struggled to read what it said.

"_Press to open."_

Without further ado, she let her index finger press it, and quickly she winced until the doors opened and she was on her floor again. She had to make it to her office before anyone wondered where she was, not that hadn't happened already.

"Tifa!" Caught already. The brunette turned and greeted Reno and Yuffie with a smile before looking away. "Where were you?"

Her mind was blank with answers, and didn't dare reveal what had actually happened, not even to her best friend. How could she? Things would just become havoc, and all she wanted to do was not worry her friends and have a good time tonight.

"Nothing happened," she stated, pretending to be confused. "What are you talking about? I just stepped out to get something from the vending machines outside, and went for a short walk." A sigh of relief had come over the both of them, but neither said a word as to why they were worried and motioned Tifa toward her office.

Yuffie seemed to be a little nervous. The phone call she made to Tifa and receiving the mans voice instead still shook her up, and before they found her best friend, she managed to hide her tears that only Reno had seen. She made him swear that he wouldn't tell anyone and after they, they had set off the search for the long haired brunette. They hadn't seen her come from the elevator doors, only saw her walking back toward her office in a rather big hurry. Still, she didn't say anything.

On the other hand, Reno didn't appear to have a care in the world. He looked happy enough to just have the girl he'd had a crush on since high school standing in front of him. Things had gone normal inside of his head, so nothing appeared to be wrong at all with him or so the naked eye could tell.

"So, Yuffie, how bout' that party tonight, hmm? Excited to finally meet Vincent Valentine in person?" Reno's jaw dropped. Both of the brunette's merely laughed and inched toward the doorway. "Anyways, we should be getting ready."

While Yuffie headed toward the elevator, Tifa headed toward the stairs. With a puzzled expressed, the youngest brunette followed her out, although keeping her mouth shut.

When the girls finally reached Tifa's estate, there was much chatter about different clothing options, most in which involved several revealing outfits. Yuffie had always been a flirt, showing either too much or too little just to be a tease, but as for Tifa, she'd always been half and half. There was nothing snazzy about wearing too little of clothing and the taste simply displeased her greatly.

Her mind continued to wander with each passing moment Yuffie's comments fell on deaf ears. The dream, her mysterious savior, nothing made sense, nor did she want it to. All she wanted that very moment was for it to just leave, and fall into a state that didn't exist, like…just a dream. Not some prophecy thing that began to bug her. Well, as far as she knew it was a dream, and yet her gut told her something completely different.

Even with the sort glimpse of the mystery figure inside her dream, she could have sworn…no. No, it just wasn't possible, or could it be? Her head pounded with overwhelming thoughts, all relating back to the elevator and her dream she had just moments before waking up. What did it all mean? Hopefully nothing bad…but with everything falling into chaos already, she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Hey, Tifa. What about this one?" Cloudy orbs of brown quickly broke from the ceiling and landed on a elvin green miniskirt matched with a black, strapless top. Her immediate impression was one of displeasure, shaking her head quickly before falling back on the bed. She had already picked out the outfit she would wear, which was quite simple indeed…. Skinny black pants with a top with its sleeves slumped past her shoulders and a belt looping around the waist.

There was nothing fancy about it, other than the fact that she enjoyed being plain and simple, which often grabbed her the most attention at parties. Yuffie on the other hand…she had a knack for standing out due to the wacky choice in outfits she attempted to wear.

The ceiling was the only thing she could see at that point, not a single fraction of her room entering her line of vision…and then green. Quickly, she sat up and blinked, sighing after tossing aside a green shirt her friend had tossed at her. "What's wrong with this shirt?" she inquired, unfolding it and holding it out in front of her briefly. "It looks nice, you should wear it with those pants of yours… You know, the ones with the butterfly print on it."

"You think?" came a curious reply and before Tifa knew it, the shirt was snatched back from her. "Alright, alright. I'll wear that outfit, but I'm going to go take a shower first before putting it on. I still smell like the office."

After the cheerful presence had left, Tifa sat up and looked drearily about the room before drawing in a deep breath. She held it before releasing the air back into the room and stood, only to remain there. No matter how popular Vincent Valentine was, and no matter how much Tifa adored him, she found herself dreading this night. There was just too much plaguing her mind, and not enough time to figure things out.

With defeat, the brunette made her way to her own shower and closed the door, pulling the door open and slipping from her garments. She hadn't realized how much time had gone by with her just thinking, and if she didn't get a move on, she would be late and Yuffie wouldn't let her hear the end of it.

Heat consumed her body the moment her feet touched base with the chilly floors of the shower, water trickling down each voluptuous curve that had been born with her. There wasn't anything unattractive about Tifa, nor was there anything to not like either, except her haunting past about her mother. She cared not to go into detail about it, and merely shrugged it off as some excuse when it came to subject. Its not like it was anyone's business to begin with.

A perfectly formed hand ran through her long hair, bringing it away from her closed eyes. "Why is everything going so wrong?" she whispered softly. Her head jerked to right upon feeling a cold breeze flutter across her skin. It was almost as though someone was there with her now, but she couldn't tell who exactly, or what.

"Tifa…"

Fear of her name being called by a male voice didn't seem to alarm her in the slightest bit, but instead, her eyes locked onto a shadowy figure standing just outside the shower door. "It's you, isn't it?" The question was not answered verbally, but she knew right away that it was him. The same man that saved her in the elevator, the one that immediately caught her interest and her thoughts.

From what she saw behind the glass, she saw his head lower, as did his voice. "Tifa, why haven't you forgotten me?" The question brought confusion to surface on her pale features. "Forgotten?"

"Hey, Tifa! Who are you talking to in there?" The male jerked back in surprise at the sound of Yuffie's voice, abruptly stepping forward. Tifa saw his hand through the glass, and slowly the door began to slid open and the very edge of his lips could be seen.

"I promise you this will not be our last encounter, Tifa." A small smirk edged its way through the corners of his mouth just moments before he disappeared, and the door to the bathroom opened hastily with Yuffie in the doorway.

Cringing, Tifa peeked her head out to peer at her friend, giving her a nervous laugh before waving. "Sorry, I guess I didn't hear you, Yuff."

"Pfft, whatever. Anyways, you have like…thirty minutes to get ready. Get a move on it girlie. I'll be waiting downstairs."

As if things couldn't get worse. The door had not fully closed behind her, and the full sound of the doorbell ringing around the in the hallway caught her attention. She didn't remember inviting one over, especially on such short notice. "Yuffie, who is it?" she called down. One last tug on the soft black cloth, and the black shirt was pulled over her slender body.

Never before had she realized just how beautiful she looked, although looks had been altering with the tiring work load that her father had bestowed upon her. Her eyes constantly looked tired, although, tonight things were going to change. For once she was going to sparkle and be herself instead. It would do her a great deal of good.

As she spiraled down the stairs, her eyes caught onto a familiar redhead and immediately she drew in a sharp breath. Reno was the last person she wanted to deal with, and truthfully, she didn't care for Yuffie's attention either. Unknowingly, she had quickly darted up the stairs and brought the door closed behind her and frantically looked around. There just had to be a way out of this! No matter how much she wanted to go to the party, something about the two familiar faces downstairs made her stomach churn, and all she wanted…was her savior.

She could remember the scent of roses he let off, the warmth of his body firmly pressed against her own. Everything about him made her feel…so right, like everything was in place and where it was supposed to be. There wasn't a single care in the world that could put Tifa down.

The room she was currently in didn't resemble her anymore. The usual posters that littered the walls were now trashed and the entire time, Tifa believed that the reason she had got rid of everything that made her, her was simply because it was childish. Mr. Lockhart constantly complained years and years, bringing her to believe she had to be picture perfect. It had to stop.

Without effort, she threw open the windows and lifted her leg up over the ledge and firmly placed her feet on the shingled roof. She hadn't realized the change in the once blue sky and immediately she became uneasy when droplets of water hit her face. The brunette was dealing in a dangerous situation, now to only have the edge of the window as support. She was tired of her current life, and wanted a change.

Tifa wanted to leave this life behind, and spend it with her mystery savior, but at what cost?

A tremor shot through her body as the weight of her body fell forward after losing her footing. Time seemed to freeze, nothing making sense, like always. All this girl knew was that she'd fallen from her roof, and was going to have a nasty landing. Quickly, those brown orbs tightly shut, body awaiting the brutal impact that was about to implode itself onto her.

Would death serve to be her only freedom, she wondered. Time and space seemed so insignificant as air encircled her body, flailing her air in all directions; just an angel in the icy winds, her wings burned to dust. It was all she was to others. A person who was required to be absolutely perfect in the eyes of others…especially her father.

The crisp scent turned soft, and gentle, as the overwhelming smell of roses crossed her senses. "My savior?" she whispered questioningly, eyes snapping wide open.

"Tifa."

The call of her name by that familiar voice made her heart skip a beat. The thought of sudden death didn't appear to pleague her mind any longer, and the icy air that rose her skin to bumps vanished when his arms fully encircled her, keeping her from falling.

Unexplainable tears began blossoming and soon spilled over her cheeks, warmly. "You saved me again!" Tightly she drew herself to him, clinging, forcing herself to remain calm. It wasn't as though the thought of never seeing him again hadn't crossed her mind. Her head lifted, her cloudy orbs meeting his crystalline blue hues that held hardly any emotion at all.

Minutes passed by, and yet, I didn't matter to either of them. Both of them felt at home within each other embrace. One question surface during her moment of blankness, and her lips parted before her chance to gain an answer would vanish forever. "Who are you?"

"I go by the name…Cloud."

NOTE: Alright, so this chapter sucked big time, only because I wrote it in one day. It was all very rushed, unfortunately. BUT, I now have a laptop that I can be on as much as I want, so all other chapters will be awesome and not rushed…. Eventually, I am re-writing this chapter, so it won't suck so bad…

Hope you all liked the cliff hanger. Find out what happens next on, "The Life You Behind."


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